1 Thing Matters

Most religions believe in a powerful God. It is assumed that God will use that strength for the benefit of his followers. That is a reasonable assumption, but it begs the question. What is real strength? It is easy to assume that real strength means exerting your will over another by using any means necessary, including force. But this week we see Jesus Christ demonstrate a different kind of strength.

We have come to Holy Week. It begins with Jesus humbly riding a donkey colt straight into the hands of his enemies. As the week progresses, it will appear that Christ’s adversaries are the ones in a position of power and Jesus is in a position of weakness. Yet what Christ does this holy week—setting his divine strength aside, being passive in the face of death—would change the world. To do what Christ did for us and our salvation took real strength.

When we hear the word “school,” we tend to think of reading, mathematics, social studies, and all of the different subjects that students learn at the elementary, high school, and college levels. As one would naturally expect, those subjects are included in the curriculum of just about any elementary school.

But they aren’t the most important subject taught in our school. They aren’t the primary reason our school exists. That distinction belongs to Jesus. 

Jesus, and helping students and families know him better and grow in their faith, is the real reason our school exists. We aren’t simply an alternative option to the public school; we exist for much more. We exist so that through our efforts, many continue to see Jesus. Our school’s 50th Anniversary celebration continues as we acknowledge and thank God for allowing us to help others see Jesus through our school for five decades and counting! 

While not every religion uses the word “sin,” they all embrace the concept. Every religion acknowledges that mankind’s flawed attitudes or misguided actions are a source of pain, both now and potentially in eternity. So every religion offers a solution: a set of laws, a moral code, a path to more enlightened behavior. 

What do they have in common? We are to solve sin through human effort. Be better! Try harder! This is the heart of all false religion, which results in one of only two outcomes: 1) those who correctly understand they will never overcome their sin are crushed by guilt, or 2) those who ludicrously believe they have defeated their sin are killed by pride.

True religion offers a better way—a way that frees us from guilt and has no room for pride. Jesus teaches that the solution to our sin is not, self, not working harder. Rather, it is to trust in our Savior and the work he has done for us.

Person A never attends worship. He can’t see the point. Person B attends every week out of a slavish sense of obligation. Her mind wanders during the services, for she views the activities of worship merely as tasks for her to complete. Who is worse off? Rather than debating the point, let us just admit neither understand the true worth of worship. And that is exactly what Satan wants.

Many think worship is about what we do for God. It is the other way around. As we gather around Word and sacrament, the Spirit moves us to love and trust in God above all things. Moved by the cross of Christ, we bow down before our God. We commune with him. And that’s exactly what God wants.

We know that the cross was an instrument of torture and execution. However, Scripture also uses the term “cross” to refer to any suffering that one endures because he is a believer: the painful denial of the desires of the flesh; ridicule and persecution from unbelievers; etc. This is one reason people reject religion. They see Christians struggling in life with these crosses, while non-Christians often seem perfectly happy. Even the prophet Jeremiah asked, “Why do all the faithless live at ease?”(12:1).

Today, Jesus asks us to rethink suffering under the cross. It is not pointless pain. Our crosses are not how we pay for sin. Jesus already did that on his cross. Our crosses are not redemptive, but they are constructive. Any suffering believers face under the cross is only good, a way Christ connects us tightly to himself with fire-tested faith.

We began this season of Epiphany in the Jordan River. From that day, in word and deed, Jesus began to reveal more about himself. From that river, we have followed Jesus to arrive at a mountain. Today on the Mount of Transfiguration, in a show of dazzling brilliance, Jesus gives us a real glimpse of God’s glory. This final epiphany prepares us for the journey of Lent where, at another mountain called Golgotha, we will witness the greatest glory yet.

Martin Luther once said, “Where God built a church, there the devil would also build a chapel.” Satan hates God. He demonstrates that hatred by hurting those that God loves in any way he can. The epiphany Christ wants us to have is this: the devil is real and very dangerous. But just as real is Christ’s deliverance, for Christ is continually undoing the devil’s work. And through his Word, Christ Jesus also gives us the power to resist the devil and stand firm in the faith.

Even though Jesus knows all our faults and failures, he badly wants something to do with us. So, he calls us to follow him. But he does so in a special way: through his gospel. When Jesus calls us to discipleship through his gospel, he also calls us to glory and grace.